Honey Bee USA Inc., struggling to build a retail/boating/wedding complex on Waikiki waterfront land owned by the state, is mired in a sticky financial situation, hardly sweet for anyone involved.

Now in bankruptcy court, the company is trying to come up with some $20 million for the project, dubbed Waikiki Landing, which includes nearly $1 million owed the state for delinquent rent plus other debt.

A federal bankruptcy judge will rule whether this project has the wherewithal to proceed. But the financial saga up to this point is a tangled one indeed, more befitting a spider than a bee.

Store’s design a cultural marvel?

In the eyes of the 2016 International Council of Shopping Centers, the Walgreens store on Keeaumoku Street is quite the looker: The glass-fronted design by Architects Hawaii just won its global 2016 Vision-Innovation-Value-Achievement Retail Store Design Award.

The architectural firm said that a “holistic approach to design” enabled it to showcase the store’s location, adding: “The interior design continues the Hawaiian motif of the ahupuaa, with the ground floor reflecting the cool colors and wave patterns of the ocean or kai. A custom undulating nalu (wave) light fixture connects the two entrances and unifies the store. A series of custom wood trellises hover near the ceiling in a modern interpretation of the fishing nets or “upenas” that early Hawaiian fishermen would use in the area.”

And you thought it was just a drugstore.